Learning (lifelong learners)
Ensuring effective education
Students as lifelong learners
When the teaching and learning of students is a shared responsibility amongst the entire school community, think about how the following actions foster habits for lifelong learning.
Support teachers in their understanding of the IB approaches to learning (thinking, research, communication, social and self-management skills) and how these approaches can be developed both inside and outside the programme of inquiry and across the school community.
Ask: How are these skills being explicitly taught and practiced?
Encourage student agency (voice, choice and ownership) in the development of unit planners, designing of learning spaces and what is being displayed in the learning community.
Ask: Do students have choice in how/what they are learning and how they share that learning with others?
Focus on the development and promotion of the attributes of the IB learner profile and international mindedness throughout the entire school community.
Ask: Can students recognize actions that show development with the attributes of the learner profile?
Incorporate opportunities for student collaboration in multiple contexts, both in the classroom and in the greater school community.
Ask: Are students working both independently and collaboratively (whether in partnerships or groups) on a regular basis?
Invite school leadership to welcome student voice, choice and ownership, where appropriate, across the school.
Ask: What decisions lend themselves to student perspective and action?
Ensure that academic integrity is being modeled and expected amongst students.
Ask: Do my students know how to cite sources from their research? (Can the media specialists support this learning?)
Help teachers anticipate and plan for student action as a result of their learning.
Ask: What can be done to encourage and recognize student action?
Remind teachers of the importance of building in time to reflect throughout the process of learning.
Ask: When are students invited to set goals and reflect on their growth?
Look for opportunities for teachers to encourage students to explore and develop their identities.
Ask: What are students learning about themselves? What are they learning about others?
Upon school authorization, students in the final year of the PYP will engage in the process of exhibition. To prepare teachers and students for this endeavor, consider:
Pursuing IB professional development around the exhibition process. If the budget allows, it may be beneficial for grade/age level teachers, school coordinator and leadership to attend.
Reading IB documentation regarding the PYP exhibition.
Connecting with schools who have completed the exhibition process to learn more about their journey and recommendations they have for others.
Remember that exhibition is not the sole responsibility of the school coordinator and teacher(s) of students engaged in the exhibition process. All members of the learning community can serve to support students. This may look like:
Teachers, staff members, parents, and/or community members mentoring exhibition groups.
Classrooms hosting and providing feedback to students who are preparing to present their knowledge with others.
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